Press Release

“The Treasures of Tutankhamun” (King Tut)
U.S. Exhibition Recap: 1976-1979

PHILADELPHIA, 2006 - No other cultural exhibit has piqued the nation’s curiosity – before or since – in quite the same way as “The Treasures of Tutankhamun” (King Tut) exhibit that visited America from 1976-1979.  In that span, nearly eight million Americans viewed the rare artifacts during sold-out tours at each museum where they appeared. 

Drawing record crowds and critical praise, and unleashing a consumer phenomenon that included jewelry, clothing, dance moves, and even hairstyles, Tut’s impact on the art world, and most of all, American sensibilities, is immeasurable.  What can be measured are the millions who passed before the boy king’s burial items the last time they came to America. 

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age
of the Pharaohs 

Photo courtesy of National Geographic Traveler 

1976-1979 EXHIBIT CITIES:
More than 50,000 visitors a week filed through each of the museums that housed the King Tut exhibit on its last U.S. tour.  Nearly eight million people saw the artifacts at the following locations during the three years it toured America:

• National Gallery of Art, Washington   
• The Field Museum and the University of Chicago 
• New Orleans Museum of Art    
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) 
• Seattle Art Museum     
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York  
• M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco 

WHAT WAS REPORTED ON TUT’S LAST VISIT:
The Washington Post: November 17, 1978
King Tut is still hauling them in. The 1,293,203 people who saw his exhibition prior to its Tuesday closing at Seattle’s art museum outnumber by more than two to one the population of that city.

The New York Times: December 17, 1978
U.S. art institutions report $12 million in sales from museum [King Tut] reproductions.  At least 40 newly published books are about Tut.

Associated Press: October 19, 1979
“The Treasures of Tutankhamun” the show that sent a wave of “Tut-mania” across the nation, is ending its smash hit, two-year tour of the United States on Sunday and moving on to Canada.

Newsweek: November 19, 1979
Epitomizing the cultural hunger of the 70s audiences was the astonishing success of the Tutankhamen exhibition, attracting more than 8 million people in its travels across the U.S.  What went on behind those 16 million eyes as they gazed into the eyes of the boy-pharaoh’s death mask and at the exquisite objects that had adorned his burial chamber?  Eternally insouciant, The New Yorker conducted a mock interview with Tutankhamen, whose responses went a long way toward explaining the “Tut glut.”  Asked to describe the theme of the show, Tutankhamen replied with royal candor: “Yes, it’s about gold, man.  Heavy metal.”

Chicago Tribune: May 15, 2004
Tut drew 1.35 million people at the Field in 1977, still a record at the museum for a traveling show.